Road oil and snow equipment bids presented; county seeks price proposals to repair transfer station used by Waste Management

Road and Bridge staff presented two procurement items and requested authority to solicit price proposals for transfer-station repairs.

Eric Sandberg, Road and Bridge, reviewed RFB 2025-06 for road oil for the 2025 construction season. He reported two bidders, Vance Brothers and Coastal Energy Corporation, and said Vance Brothers was the apparent low bidder with a total cost of $245,000 for 12 20,000-gallon units of RS-1H and 5,000 gallons of SS-1H and a demurrage rate of $100 per hour; Sandberg asked the commission to award to Vance Brothers at the $245,000 amount. Sandberg said the unit price was about three cents cheaper per gallon than last year but the county's quantity for this season is roughly half the usual amount; he said RS-1H is chip-seal oil and SS-1H is for asphalt overlay oil and that the county plans about 23 miles of chip-seal this year (compared with a typical 40'50 miles), reduced to limit failures seen last year.

Sandberg also summarized RFB 2025-07 for two 2-cubic-yard salt spreaders and two 9-foot snow plows. He said American Equipment Company was the apparent low bidder and requested an award of $29,480 for both salt spreaders and plows; staff said the equipment will fit the one-ton trucks bought last year and will let the county retire an older single-axle truck.

On the transfer station, Road and Bridge requested authorization to solicit price proposals for repairs identified by Waste Management. Sandberg said Waste Management submitted a list of needed repairs and agreed the county is responsible for roof and concrete-floor repairs while Waste Management would pay for wall damages it caused. He estimated the solicitation timeline at about 90 days from request to bids and said the current lease structure provides roughly $1,500 per month to the solid-waste fund; the contract with Waste Management runs through December 2026. Sandberg said the transfer station facility dates from the mid-1990s and will require larger investment if the county elects to continue operating it or to build a new facility.

Transcript notes showed questions from commissioners about whether out-of-area residents are charged higher disposal fees (Sandberg said Waste Management sets fees) and whether contracting options such as land leases and different fee structures could be explored if the county chose to pursue a new facility.

Ending: The study session recorded staff requests and recommendations, but the transcript did not record final motions or votes on the RFBs or the transfer-station solicitation during the study session; staff asked for permission to proceed with solicitations and will return with award recommendations and bid results at a subsequent meeting.